Marty34

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 02:13 PM) How has KW behaved like a little kid here? Sure you can criticize him for making a mistake in picking up Dunn, Rios and Peavy. But he gave Ozzie the go ahead to play whomever he thinks can produce the best, contracts and salary be damned. Very BIG of KW. Without production from those three Williams' acquisitions the team was through.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:40 PM) Outside of Ritchie, which one of those players had a bad history before coming to the White Sox? The Alomar and Griffey acquisitions were useless, but it's not like they gave up anything useful. Plus, it's extremely hard to think a veteran is past his useful life when they're still in their prime (Rios, Swisher, Koch). It's an unpredictable game. I don't think you can even blame Dunn on KW, because only a few people thought Dunn was going to be a waste of money and even then, they didn't think he'd be this bad. So that signing is completely hindsight. Plus, for every one of those stupid moves he made, you have Matt Thornton, John Danks, Carlos Quentin, Gavin Floyd, Sergio Santos, etc. I personally don't think KW is a good GM, but he's a serviceable one. I'd love for somebody better to take over, but pinning the past few seasons all on Kenny when he was partially blocked by his manager in acquiring or getting rid of players is unfair. Williams strength as a GM is finding players before they have success in the majors.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:36 PM) AJ really hasn't been that incredible of a hitter. His average is up but his power numbers are down, and he's now been hurt. Castro's been hurt too. This team could have been a 90 win team with a large margin of error. Almost everything has gone wrong from there. Lots of stuff has gone right too. Konerko, Buehrle, bullpen.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 12:55 PM) NO, enough chances; Williams is done. Everyone stop coming up with these scenarios that give anyone currently in a coaching/managing position one more chance. Everyone has been here for long enough that we know what they've done, and what they're capable of. The time has come to start over. And what exactly is "improvement" in your eyes? If I was a Williams fan, I'd say that exact line too and then when the team wins 85 games next year I'd come up with some other excuse to justify holding onto him. There will always be a million. Sums up the situation perfectly.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:30 PM) So Ozzie is just doing an average job? He has .500 talent and they are playing .500, correct? Would they be .500 in the AL East or AL West? Yes, Guillen is doing an average job and he needs to go.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:20 PM) You realize how few things it would take for this to be a 90 win team? A solid full season from John Danks A normal 30 HR season from Adam Dunn A decent season with the Bats from Beckham A decent season with the bats from Rios A decent season by Jake Peavy Juan Pierre being able to field and occasionally steal a base If just 2 of those things had happened, this team would be in first place right now and on pace for 90. With an MVP season from Konerko, AJ hitting like he is, Buehrle and Humber . . . Lot's of stuff for this group to be a 90-win team. Too many folks wore rose colored glasses before the season started.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 12:21 PM) Pecota also hates Mark Buehrle because he doesn't strike enough people out and projected a big falloff from Konerko. I'm not a PECOTA fan, but It was laughable that people thought this was a 90-win team before the season started. I had them at .500 too and was right.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:35 AM) So what if you say that it's Kenny's fault for not allocating the funds correctly? Well, Kenny sure did a hell of a job when Manuel was the manager, those teams averaged 86 wins with a $50 million payroll. I'd say that's definitely worth some praise, even more so if you think Jerry Manuel was a horrible manager. Plus, how do we explain players under-performing? What is about this team that makes hitters who were consistent hitting machines (Dunn) before their arrival to the city turn into Drew Butera? Is it Ozzie? Is it Greg Walker? Is it the fans? I'm not certain, but this team has given Swisher, Rios, and Dunn the worst season of their careers by far. Thus, it is actually hard to blame Kenny for acquiring some of these guys (especially Dunn) considering their previous history. Rios and Swisher definitely deserve some criticism since they were very risky, but Rios looked like a great pickup last season and Swisher...well...he and Ozzie sure as hell didn't get along. Which brings me to my next point... 1.) The Manuel teams were largely Schueler creations. 2.) Add Todd Ritchie, Billy Koch, David Wells, Roberto Alomar, Ken Griffey, JR. to Peavy, Dunn, Rios, and Swisher. Only Wells and Swisher did anything after leaving the Sox. Seems like Williams has a knack MLB veterans who are past their useful life.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 12:13 PM) And we'd be pretty much in first place if it weren't for that 11-22 start, right? No.

This team is not underachieving, PECOTA projected them to be .500. They were never good enough to win the division.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 11:22 AM) I have trouble figuring out who thought those would be bad ideas. Pierre has not been their problem since Williams wanted to get rid of him. Kenny needed to replace Dunn, Teahen, or Rios with Viciedo.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 10:54 AM) I hope this finally makes it clear to everyone that JR is the root of the problem. If a GM can't even fire a hitting coach without the owner intervening and immediately re-hiring the coach, how can the GM be held responsible for any major decisions? If Williams went to chairman Reinsdorf and told him he wanted to make a change, a change would be made. This seems more like a spur of the moment dust up. It also might mean there will be a new GM.

Why is Flowers batting 7th?

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 07:31 PM) You're certainly not going to beat Verlander nor anyone else with strikeouts. Shocked a Soxtalk approved lineup has 3 total bases against Verlander through 5.

Per MLBTradeRumors Heyman says Chairman Reinsdorf wants to keep both Guillen and Williams "at this point."

De Aza looks bad in center tonight. Almost as bad as HP ump.

You're not going to beat Verlander with singles. Dunn should've been in the lineup on the odd chance he'd connect with one.

Nope. Doesn't need it up by 3 runs.

it's a Soxtalk approved lineup so I'm not throwing the towel in.

Guillen has screwed this game up by not having Rios in center.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 04:44 PM) Adam Dunn and Alexis Rios make adequate backups right now for the guys who are performing. Especially in the AL, you don't win pennants based on the strength of the bench. Play the guys who are performing and treat Dunn and Rios like backups. The guys who are performing are performing well enough that having weak backups isn't a big deal. And anyway...from now on that point is moot, since rosters just expanded. That's settled. My next question is why are they paying $25M+ for backups?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 04:31 PM) How would you suggest this happen? Send them to the bench? Who might make that decision? Still playing with a 23-man roster.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 04:27 PM) Note that you did not feel the need to defend the insults. Cowley is wrong to insult Williams and make insinuations about his personal life.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 04:23 PM) I'd prefer a "reporter" not be a mouth-piece for one particular side of the story and not continually insult the other side. So what if he's a mouth-piece for one side. It still provides insight on what's going on.

QUOTE (shakes @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 03:41 PM) Cowley's true colors really shine through in these type of interviews. He is just a petulant child running around causing trouble screaming until someone listens. He clearly can't get enough attention, and it sure looks like he is just angling for a spot on one of the ESPN shout shows. What a low life threatening to blow up Kenny's personal life. It's not a beat writers job to learn all of the things in a locker room about the players and front office personal life and hang it over them. I'm sure he is correct in saying other writers know about it, but don't report it, because that stuff is off the record and off limits, for the most part, and others have some integrity regarding their professions. I'm sorry but I refuse to call him a journalist. Speigel doesn't come off great, but I thought he showed some restraint, and he is right about Joe inserting himself into the story, and relying on Ozzie and his inner circle. Really, that is nothing new for the Sun Times and why I stopped reading it years ago. Objectivity is no longer a goal, but an obstacle at that paper. I hope when Ozzie talks himself out of town Joe follows, but the Sun Times will just replace him with another clown. The self congratulations by that guy may be the worst part. I feel dirty after listening to that interview. So you'd prefer he did not report on the fact that these guys don't like each other and there is a power struggle going on? I want to know as much information as possible.